Louisville Volleyball vs. Kentucky 9-14-2023 Photo by William Caudill, TheCrunchZone.com

#2 Louisville Sweeps #21 Kentucky + GALLERY

Mark BlankenbakerSeptember 14, 2023

In the first of three matches at the KFC Yum! Center this year,outside hitter Charitie Luper had 13 kills while hitting .385 to lead the No. 2-ranked University of Louisville volleyball team to a 25-19, 25-23, 25-18 win over No. 21-ranked Kentucky on Wednesday night in front of a record crowd of 12,760 at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cards move to 9-0 with the sweep of the Wildcats. Louisville hit .344 in the match with 44 kills, six aces, and six blocks. Outside hitter Anna DeBeer recorded nine kills and four digs, opposite hitter Aiko Jones tallied nine kills and three blocks, and middle blocker Cara Cresse had seven kills and a block. Setter Elle Glock had 32 assists and two kills in the match, while libero Elena Scott recorded 15 digs and five assists.

Kentucky hit .196 with 34 kills, five aces, and five blocks, as they fall to 2-5 on the year. Reagan Rutherford led the way for the Wildcats with 16 kills.

Louisville is back in the Yum! on Sunday afternoon to face No. 5-ranked Stanford, with the match set to begin at 1 p.m.

Set by Set Recap

Set 1

Middle blocker Phekran Kong tallied the first point of the night for the Cardinals with a kill, quickly followed by back-to-back kills from Jones to put the Cards in front 3-2. Kentucky then went on a 5-1 run to take a 7-4 lead early in the set, and later, with the score at 9-6, Louisville scored five straight points, highlighted by two kills from Cresse and one from Luper, forcing Kentucky’s first timeout with Louisville leading 11-9. Out of the break, DeBeer continued her service run as Louisville reeled off four more straight points, featuring two more kills from Cresse as well as one by DeBeer. This totaled the run at 9-0 and forced another timeout by the Wildcats with the Cards in front 15-9. Louisville scored again coming out before Kentucky finally ended the 10-0 run, and the Cardinals maintained the lead the rest of the way, coming within set point at 24-17 when Glock connected with Luper for a kill. Kentucky fended off two set points, but a service error gave the .412-hitting Cardinals the 25-19 set win and a 1-0 match lead.

Set 2

The Cardinals opened the second set by scoring the first four points, headlined by two solo blocks by Kong. Kentucky followed this with a 6-1 run, featuring two kills from Reagan Rutherford, to take their first lead of the set at 7-6. Louisville then scored four consecutive points on multiple errors by the Wildcats, taking the lead back at 10-7. Kentucky scored to end the run, then the Cardinals tallied three straight, capped off by an ace by Cresse, to build their lead to 13-8. Kentucky chipped away at the Cardinals’ lead, finally tying the match at 21 and forcing a timeout by Coach Busboom Kelly. Kentucky took a 22-21 lead out coming out on an ace by Molly Tuozzo, followed by Louisville taking a 24-23 lead on an attack error by the Cats. DeBeer connected with Scott to register a kill and finish the set win for the Cardinals, as they took a 2-0 match lead. Louisville hit .206 in the set with an ace and two blocks.

Set 3

Kentucky opened the third set on a 6-2 run, with an Erin Lamb kill capping it off. The Cards bounced back with a 6-0 run, highlighted by two aces from defensive specialist Kamden Schrand and kills by three different Cardinals, to take an 8-6 lead. Later, another Louisville ace by Glock put the Cardinals’ lead at 13-10, forcing a timeout by the Wildcats. The lead for the Cardinals remained steady the rest of the way, as another ace by Glock put the Cardinals in control at 21-16. Back-to-back kills by Luper and DeBeer put the Cardinals at match point at 24-18, and Luper ended the night with a service ace to win the set 25-18 and sweep the Wildcats.